Tools

Gojira, Devin Townsend Project, the Atlas Moth

When: Mon., Feb. 11, 8 p.m. 2013Price: $20, $18 in advance

Gojira front man Joe Duplantier recently relocated to Brooklyn, but I’m pretty sure France still counts the band as its proudest technical-death-metal export. Gojira’s attempt at a triumphant U.S. tour last summer was marred by the cancellation of headliner Lamb of God after front man Randy Blythe was arrested for manslaughter in Prague (the resulting legal drama remains unresolved); the Frenchmen did manage to play Chicago in August, but on a very short stateside trip. So this is their first chance to support their most recent full-length, last year’s L’Enfant Sauvage (Roadrunner), the way it deserves. Some people thought 2008’s The Way of All Flesh was a letdown after 2005’s stunningly good From Mars to Sirius, but I wasn’t one of them—and the new record builds logically on its predecessor. Supple and limber and possessed of an exquisite sense of timing, Gojira build their grinding thrusts and shredding wails with rock-solid internal logic, even though the music usually flies by too fast for you to see the structures at first. I’m still waiting for their long-talked-about EP to benefit Sea Shepherd, though—all I’ve seen is “Of Blood and Salt,” which came out in May 2011 on a Metal Hammer comp and features Meshuggah’s Fredrik Thordendal and tourmate Devin Townsend as guest stars. —Monica KendrickThe Devin Townsend Project and the Atlas Moth open.